A CASHPOT of £10,000 has been secured by the Barnsley Chronicle to give away to local groups.
The money has been handed over the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings, to give community and non-profit organisations the chance to apply for small grants that can make a real difference.
We have named this partnership and grant scheme between the Chronicle and the PCC, Stronger Together.
Dr Billings has allocated the money for local groups which show commitment to objectives such as providing activities for children and young people in areas of anti social behaviour, crime reduction, combating isolation and supporting vulnerable people.
The hope is that with relatively small amounts of money, communities can see the benefits of grants for things such as equipment including sports kits, providing workshops or paying for educational trips and visits, including transport costs.
And the Chronicle has set up a panel of people to go through the applications and choose those which will make the most difference to their local communities.
The panel will be made up of Barnsley FC legend Bobby Hassell, Martin Sugden from Voluntary Action Barnsley, community stalwart and Royal British Legion member Goff Griffths, Mayor of Barnsley, Coun Linda Burgess, Radio Sheffield presenter Steve White and Chronicle deputy editor Steph Daley, and will once a month to go through applications.
Community groups can ask for anything from £1 to £1,000, with the aim to make the application process as simple as possible.
“The idea is that people will not be too intimidated by a complex form to apply. Barnsley groups traditionally don’t put themselves forward for grants and this is their chance to do so, even the smallest of groups needing the smallest amount of money can get involved,” Steph said.
Dr Billings added: “The Barnsley Chronicle Stronger Together grant scheme is solely for the people of Barnsley administered by their local newspaper.
“I have run a community grant scheme in South Yorkshire for a number of years, but struggled to reach groups and organisations working to keep Barnsley safe.
“The grant scheme is for small organisations that work across Barnsley with vulnerable people or those at risk of getting involved in anti social behaviour or crime.
“I would like to thank the Barnsley Chronicle for administering Stronger Together and to all of the community groups applying for funding. Without their hard work in the community, the work for the police and partner agencies would be much more difficult.”
To apply for a grant log onto the Chronicle website, www.barnsley-chronicle.co.uk and click on the Stronger Together link on the home page.
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